Oscar winner Jared Leto has signed on to star in Martin Zandvliet’s action-thriller “The Outsider” for Waypoint Entertainment and Linson Entertainment, the companies announced Tuesday.
Written by Andrew Baldwin, “The Outsider” is set in post-WWII Japan and follows an imprisoned American soldier (Leto) who is released with the help of his Yakuza cellmate. Now free, he sets out to earn their respect and repay his debt while navigating the dangerous criminal underworld.
Waypoint Entertainment will finance with Ken Kao (“The Nice Guys”) producing alongside John Linson (“Sons of Anarchy”) and Art Linson (“Fight Club”) under their Linson Entertainment banner. Bloom will handle international sales. Production is slated to start this fall.
“The Outsider” will mark Zandvliet’s English-language debut following the success of “Land of Mine,” which was lauded at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival and acquired by Sony Pictures as a potential awards contender this year. For Leto, this will be just the second film for the selective actor since his Oscar-winning turn in 2013’s “Dallas Buyers Club.” He will next be seen as the Joker in “Suicide Squad,” which Warner Bros. will release on Aug. 5.
Waypoint Entertainment is a film and TV development, production, and finance company which recently announced it is producing Scott Cooper‘s “Hostiles” starring Christian Bale and Rosamund Pike. The company has several films in post-production including Shane Black‘s detective thriller “The Nice Guys” starring Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling, which Warner Bros. will release May 20; Gus Van Sant‘s “The Sea of Trees” starring Matthew McConaughey, Ken Watanabe, and Naomi Watts; and Terrence Malick‘s “Weightless” starring Ryan Gosling Michael Fassbender, Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett, and Rooney Mara.
John Linson and Art Linson are currently producing “The Comedian” in New York starring Robert De Niro, Leslie Mann and Harvey Keitel.
Leto is represented by CAA and Untitled Entertainment, while WME and Magnolia Entertainment rep Zandvliet.